Thousands do like it man. I mean people blow so much money on this shit. It's no wonder companies like EA are turning to these micro transaction systems. It's virtually free money. Make a digital item like a hat or clothing and sell it for $5. I hate it myself but so many damn people buy this fluff that it will not go away.

The only problem I foresee is where the items have a significant impact on gameplay: there is something disingenuous about the original asking price if you are obliged to purchase enhancements in order to stand on a level playing field in a multi-player title, for instance. If the items are merely cosmetic and optional then EA can hardly be blamed for attempting to exploit the willingness of some to part with their cash.

If they are going the F2P route with built-in micrtransactions then it's ok.
But this is EA, they will likely charge $50+ for the (crippled) game client, have some features that are necessary to enjoy the game as core-microtransaction items, and also cut out chunks of the game during development to sell as full fledged DLC.

The idiots who play the SWTOR MMO are to blame for this. They pay a monthly sub, and buy tons of crap in the in-game store with real money. And enough of them do it that EA knows it can port this business model across their entire lineup.
They even got suckered into paying for a new micro-expansion that was originally planned as one of the several free content updates.

This makes me wanna go out and spend $1000 on a GFX!
and a cpu mobo platform that will be EOL'd before I have a chance to upgrade!
All so I can play ported console games!
That has pay to use DLC!
With micro transactions that become required in order to finish the game!
Fuck Yeah!
Capitalism mixed with Retardation RULES!

I'm on the fence about this type of stuff. I've bought a few items from the TF2 store, mostly because I love Valve and since they went F2P on TF2 it's a good way to provide continuing support for a game that is updated for free. Plus, everything you can buy from the TF2 store is able to be either dropped in game or crafted with no fee.

It's kind of shitty if EA is going to be charging full price for say, Battlefield 4 (and they will), and then implimenting a store for people to purchase weapons, skins and other items. Plus, if there are exclusive weapons that can only be purchased in the BF4 store, I will rage. I will rage harder than the time I nearly broke my monitor after finding a DLC store within the first 30 minutes of playing Dragon Age: Origins.

Well they've already done it to some extent with Dead Space 3, so I'm not surprised. It IS EA after all we're talking about. Personally I get by fine without the optional microstrans stuff in that game, but I can see where this could easily get to the point where some mp players have an added advantage via these addons. So the new online play rule of thumb becomes, cheating is OK, as long as you pay for it.

Absolute silence without compromising performance is my only benchmark score.

Great, now in new Need for Speed, instead of customizing the car like in all the old games, you'll have to buy new wheels, rims and all the other shit. Of course they'll charge the same for the base game...

EA is really starting a new wave of price gouging customers by finishing games then ripping everything out and charging for it but ontop of this they want to charge 70 dollars for their games only and you will get less.

Ok, I hate EA. I think their director is an idiot, who would try to say the Jewish people deserved it circa 1945.

That said, it's time to be realistic. People are spending money on DLC. They are preordering games. Both of these practices print money for EA, with almost 0 investment. They are a company, and as such will do whatever it takes to make money.

We as consumers need to give EA the finger. Once their sales tank they will reevaluate the practice. Anything short of a massive boycott and EA will be the jerks they always are.

I play Star Trek Online Free2Play, and the amount of real money people spend in that game is astounding. The game gives you free ships, but you need to spend at least $25 on a ship that's worthwhile (which you can at least win PvP with), and another $25 equipping it right. There are tons of trivial garbage in the game make you spend real money on. The people in my fleet (equivalent to BF3 platoon) I sometimes chat with say they spend anywhere between $50 and $75 on the game per month. Compare that to the ~$50 EA charges as a one-time payment for Battlefield 3 (you can unlock everything there is in the game, play for as long as there are servers).

I play Star Trek Online Free2Play, and the amount of real money people spend in that game is astounding. The game gives you free ships, but you need to spend at least $25 on a ship that's worthwhile (which you can at least win PvP with), and another $25 equipping it right. There are tons of trivial garbage in the game make you spend real money on. The people in my fleet (equivalent to BF3 platoon) I sometimes chat with say they spend anywhere between $50 and $75 on the game per month. Compare that to the ~$50 EA charges as a one-time payment for Battlefield 3 (you can unlock everything there is in the game, play for as long as there are servers).

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I got my Fleet Defiant by grinding for dilithium and converting it to Cryptic points.. ermm. Zen. Only 81 dilithium per Zen! That's really good compared to what it used to be. 350 per zen, etc..